Age-Related Changes in Risky Decision Making and Associated Neural Circuitry in a Rat Model

Altered decision making at advanced ages can have a significant impact on an individual's quality of life and the ability to maintain personal independence. Relative to young adults, older adults make less impulsive and less risky choices; although these changes in decision making could be cons...

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Published ineNeuro Vol. 10; no. 1; p. ENEURO.0385-22.2022
Main Authors Orsini, Caitlin A, Pyon, Wonn S, Dragone, Richard J, Faraji, Mojdeh, Wheeler, Alexa-Rae, Pompilus, Marjory, Febo, Marcelo, Bizon, Jennifer L, Setlow, Barry
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Society for Neuroscience 01.01.2023
Subjects
Aged
Animals
Basolateral Nuclear Complex
Brain - diagnostic imaging
Decision Making
Humans
Male
New Research
Prefrontal Cortex
Quality of Life
Rats
Reward
Risk-Taking
Young Adult
risk taking
punishment
aging
rat
decision making
neuroimaging
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Summary:Altered decision making at advanced ages can have a significant impact on an individual's quality of life and the ability to maintain personal independence. Relative to young adults, older adults make less impulsive and less risky choices; although these changes in decision making could be considered beneficial, they can also lead to choices with potentially negative consequences (e.g., avoidance of medical procedures). Rodent models of decision making have been invaluable for dissecting cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms that contribute to age-related changes in decision making, but they have predominantly used costs related to timing or probability of reward delivery and have not considered other equally important costs, such as the risk of adverse consequences. The current study therefore used a rat model of decision making involving risk of explicit punishment to examine age-related changes in this form of choice behavior in male rats, and to identify potential cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms that contribute to these changes. Relative to young rats, aged rats displayed greater risk aversion, which was not attributable to reduced motivation for food, changes in shock sensitivity, or impaired cognitive flexibility. Functional MRI analyses revealed that, overall, functional connectivity was greater in aged rats compared with young rats, particularly among brain regions implicated in risky decision making such as basolateral amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, and ventral tegmental area. Collectively, these findings are consistent with greater risk aversion found in older humans, and reveal age-related changes in brain connectivity.
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Author contributions: C.A.O., M. Faraji, M. Febo, J.L.B., and B.S. designed research; C.A.O., W.S.P., R.J.D., A.-R.W., and M.P. performed research; C.A.O., W.S.P., R.J.D., and M. Faraji analyzed data; C.A.O., W.S.P., M. Faraji, M. Febo, J.L.B., and B.S. wrote the paper.
C.A.O. and W.S.P. are co-first authors.
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
A.-R. Wheeler’s present address: Institute for Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712.
This work was supported by Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) | National Institutes of Health (NIH) | National Institute on Aging (NIA) Grant RF1-AG-060778 (J.L.B., B.S.), a McKnight Brain Institute Fellowship, a Thomas H. Maren Fellowship, HHS | NIH | National Institute on Drug Abuse Grant K99-DA-041493 (C.A.O.), HHS | NIH | NIA T32-AG-061892 (W.S.P., R.J.D.), and the McKnight Brain Research Foundation (J.L.B.).
C.A. Orsini’s present address: Department of Psychology, Waggoner Center for Alcohol & Addiction Research, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712.
ISSN:2373-2822
2373-2822
DOI:10.1523/ENEURO.0385-22.2022